Union City General Plan Update Assets, Issues, and Opportunities Summary Report April 2015
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UNION CITY GENERAL PLAN UPDATE ASSETS, ISSUES, AND OPPORTUNITIES SUMMARY REPORT APRIL 2015 WHAT ARE ASSETS, COMMUNITY ISSUES, AND CHARACTER Historic Union City and OPPORTUNITIES? Creating New City Centers ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT AND RESILIENCE Fiscal Stability Climate Action Plan Jobs, Jobs, Jobs Resilience Planning Water Conservation LAND USE AND HOUSING HAZARDS AND SAFETY The Station District Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Union Landing and Emergency Operation Plans ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CITY COUNCIL Carol Dutra-Vernaci, Mayor Jim Navarro, Vice Mayor CONTENTS Emily Duncan, Councilmember Lorrin Ellis, Councilmember Pat Gacoscos, Councilmember 1 | Introduction PLANNING COMMISSION Report organization, sources, and Roy Panlilio, Chairperson relationship to the General Plan Raymond Gonzalez Jr., Vice Chair Lee Guio, Commissioner Jo Ann Lew, Commissioner Harpal Mann, Commissioner SUMMARY REPORT Harris Mojadedi, Alternate Commissioner 6 | Summary of Assets, Dave Sweilem, Alternate Commissioner Issues, and Opportunities GENERAL PLAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE What are Assets, Issues, and Opportunities? Jim Navarro, Vice Mayor Pat Gacoscos, City Council 8 | Economic Development and Fiscal Stability Lee Guio, Planning Commission Roy Panlilio, Planning Commission 14 | Land Use and Housing Chuck Kennedy, Parks & Recreation Commission Yesenia Molinar, Human Relations Commission 20 | Community Character and Design Domingo Filardo, Senior Commission Jaden Gray, Youth Commission 24 | Transportation and Mobility Lance Nishihira, Economic Development Advisory Team Sarabjit Cheema, New Haven Unified School District 28 | Infrastructure and Services Barry Ferrier, At-large Lisa Mata, At-large Vincent Tice, At-large 30 | Open Space and Resources UNION CITY STAFF 34 | Community Health and Quality of Life Joan Malloy, Economic & Community Development Director Carmela Campbell, Planning Manager 42 | Hazards and Safety CONSULTANT TEAM 46 | Sustainability and Resiliency Larry Mintier, FAICP, Principal, Mintier Harnish Jim Harnish, JD, Principal, Mintier Harnish Ted Holzem, Senior Project Manager, Mintier Harnish Jim Heid, Principal, Urban Green Doug Svensson, Principal ADE Abe Leider, Supervising Planner, Rincon Consultants Brett Walinski, Principal Associate, Hexagon Stephen Hammond, Principal, WRT ii Union City General Plan Update | uc2040.com Introduction The Assets, Issues, and Opportunities Report is designed to focus community attention on key issues and opportunities that have major policy implications as Union City considers how to grow and change over the next 25 years. The Report summarizes and proactively uses input from the community workshop, online townhall forum, General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC), the Planning Commission, the City Council, as well as City staff. Information and data from the Draft Background Report was also utilized in the drafting of this report. The City anticipates that this Assets, Issues, and Opportunities Report will stimulate discussion and lead to confirmation and selection of courses of action to be reflected in the Alternatives Report and General Plan Policy Document. This Report does not draw conclusions or suggest the manner in which the City should proceed in the development of the General Plan goals, policies, and implementation programs. Rather, it provides a summary to facilitate discussion on important topics. This report serves as a tool in the General Plan Update process and a supplement to the General Plan. Since it serves only as a foundational tool in the development of the General Plan, it will not be adopted with the Background Report and Policy Document. The Assets, Issues, and Opportunities Report focuses primarily on major citywide issues and opportunities. A comprehensive list of all the assets, issues, and opportunities identified by the public, GPAC, and decision-makers can be found on the General Plan website (uc2040.com). Although all the issues and opportunities will be addressed in the General Plan, only major citywide issues and opportunities are discussed here. Relationship to Other General Plan Update Documents As described above, the Assets, Issues, and Opportunities Report is a tool to facilitate the development of the updated General Plan. It is one of several documents that will be produced during the General Plan Update process as either a support document or part of the adopted General Plan. These documents include the following: General Plan Update Support Documents As part of the General Plan Update, the City will prepare several support documents that will serve as building blocks for the adopted General Plan and analyze the environmental impacts associated with implementing the Plan. These documents include the following: Assets, Issues, and Opportunities Report Based on public input and information gathered for the Background Report, this report identifies key City assets, issues, and opportunities to be addressed in the General Plan. April 2015 | Assets, Issues, and Opportunities Report 1 Alternatives Report For any planning effort there will be several possible courses of action a community may pursue. The Alternatives Report will present land use scenarios and policy options that can be used to address the various issues and opportunities. The report will evaluate the land use alternatives for their short-term and long-term social, economic, and environmental effects on Union City. Decision-makers will select one or a combination of alternatives as the “preferred alternative.” Once the preferred alternative is selected, the General Plan Update team will develop goals, policies, implementation programs, and land use and circulation diagrams based on that alternative. Environmental Impact Report The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) will evaluate the potential environmental effects of implementing the Draft General Plan pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The City Council and Planning Commission will use the EIR during the General Plan Update process to understand the potential environmental impacts and to refine the General Plan goals, policies, and implementation programs to mitigate those impacts to the extent feasible. General Plan Documents Draft Vision and Guiding Principles Prepared early in the Update process, the Vision and Guiding Principles captures the community’s values and establishes the community’s aspirations for the next 25 years of Union City’s growth and change. The Vision Statement will be incorporated into the Policy Document and will act as a foundation for the goals, policies, and implementation programs. Background Report The Background Report represents a “snapshot” of current (2014) Union City conditions and trends. It provides a detailed description of a wide ranges of topics about the city, such as demographics and economic conditions and projections, land use, public facilities, environmental resources, and safety hazards. The Report provides decision- makers context for making policy decisions, and is purposely policy neutral. The Background Report will also serve as the environmental setting section of the EIR prepared for the General Plan update. Policy Document The Policy Document is the most important part of the General Plan. It contains the Vision Statement and the goals and policies that will guide future City decisions. It also includes implementation programs that will ensure the goals and policies in the General Plan are carried out. The Policy Document also contains the land use diagram, which serves as a general guide to the distribution of land uses throughout the city, and the circulation diagram, which serves as a guide for the development of transportation improvements that support planned land uses. 2 Union City General Plan Update | uc2040.com Sources of Assets, Issues, and Opportunities The Assets, Issues, and Opportunities Report was developed by City staff and the General Plan Update Consultants from a variety of sources, including the following: General Plan Update Community Workshop #1 The City conducted a community workshop on September 20, 2014. Workshop attendees participated in four interactive exercises to provide input for a community vision and to identify the city’s major assets, issues, and opportunities. Input from the workshop used in this Report came primarily from two of the workshop exercises: • Exercise #1: Assets and Issues. Participants identified features of the city they felt are assets and issues that need to be addressed. • Exercise #2: Opportunities and Enhancements. Participants identified features, uses, or amenities they wanted or didn’t want to see in the city. Online Townhall Forum Input In addition to the community workshop, the City conducted an online townhall forum that allowed residents to communicate with each other, City leaders, and City staff about the issues relevant to Union City. The forum, open for six weeks in September and October 2014, asked residents to provide input on the following topics used in this Report: • Assets: Please identify three things you love about living in Union City. • Issues: If you could change or fix one thing about Union City, what would it be and why? • Opportunities: What is one thing about Union City that could be improved upon to make our community better? April 2015 | Assets, Issues, and Opportunities Report 3 General Plan Advisory Committee Input City staff and the General Plan Update consultants met with the GPAC on September 3, 2014, and October 15, 2014. During the second meeting the General Plan Update